OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/12656/Review_The_Linux-based_Pontis_MX2020_Portable_Media_Player
Exploring the Future of Computingen-usCopyright 2001-2015, David Adamsadam+nospam@osnews.comTue, 03 Mar 2015 19:10:47 GMThttp://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gifOSNews.comhttp://www.osnews.com
Humm!http://www.osnews.com/thread?59938
http://www.osnews.com/thread?59938Apart from the minor niggles the author mentions there is no ogg support. Think i`ll still go for the GP2X!Mon, 14 Nov 2005 09:58:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Sauron)CommentsRE: Humm!http://www.osnews.com/thread?59941
http://www.osnews.com/thread?59941Huh??? Ogg is supported just fine! With or without firmware upgrade.Mon, 14 Nov 2005 10:02:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia)CommentsThe screenhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?59946
http://www.osnews.com/thread?59946What is the screen like? Is it viewable when the surroundings are very bright? How does it compare against existing PDA screens?

I'm assuming you'll just mount it like an external hard drive, and you probably won't get to use the shrink wrapped software that comes with it.Mon, 14 Nov 2005 13:57:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Sean Parsons)CommentsOops!http://www.osnews.com/thread?59969
http://www.osnews.com/thread?59969My wife and I just bought matching 30 GB iPods (the new iPod Video unit) this past Saturday (I'm jamming out to some Doobie Brothers on my iPod right now ;-).

Then again, even after reading this, we would have bought the iPods anyway! ;-)Edited 2005-11-14 14:15Mon, 14 Nov 2005 14:08:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (DoctorPepper)CommentsBummerhttp://www.osnews.com/thread?59978
http://www.osnews.com/thread?59978and you settled for less. It looks like some nice set of parts for only $199, hard to resist. Anyone take one apart yet, where are the real technical specifications?Mon, 14 Nov 2005 15:16:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Sphinx)Commentshmm, which architecture?http://www.osnews.com/thread?60014
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60014I wonder what the real technical specifications are on this device? Is it runing an Arm7, Arm9, Arm11? Maybe it uses one of portal player's SoCs with dual Arm7s? I would like to know more detailed specs if they are available. It would be nice if it was mentioned in the review.Edited 2005-11-14 17:50Mon, 14 Nov 2005 17:49:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (kcox)CommentsRE[2]: Humm!http://www.osnews.com/thread?60025
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60025Huh??? Ogg is supported just fine! With or without firmware upgrade.

I hope you are right about that, but I didn't see ogg in any of the literature or technical specs. Where is this listed?

EDIT: Okay. Next time I'll be sure to RTFA before I open my mouth (keyboard)! Sorry - It's right there in the article - duh!!Edited 2005-11-14 19:28Mon, 14 Nov 2005 19:22:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (mlmurray)CommentsRE: Humm!http://www.osnews.com/thread?60027
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60027Apart from the minor niggles the author mentions there is no ogg support. Think i`ll still go for the GP2X!

I'm wondering why this post had a score of -2 (I had to adjust the settings to view it, then I voted it back up).

You people do realize the word "niggles" is not a "bad word", don't you?Mon, 14 Nov 2005 19:25:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (mlmurray)CommentsRE: hmm, which architecture?http://www.osnews.com/thread?60030
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60030I think it uses special microcontrollers, not ARM. The uCLinux in particular is known to support those.Mon, 14 Nov 2005 19:40:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia)CommentsRE[2]: hmm, which architecture?http://www.osnews.com/thread?60034
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60034isn't ARM a special Microcontroller? It's used in all the ipods and in most mobile phones, and pdas. Why not here? I suspect it is a System on Chip from some guys like Portal Player, or maybe an asic from Broadcom or something that has an ARM core... o'well.Mon, 14 Nov 2005 19:47:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (kcox)CommentsLinux / Updateshttp://www.osnews.com/thread?60291
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60291This PMP seems very interesting, especially pricewise, however I'm wondering: does the fact that it runs Linux provides an advantage to the customer ? For instance, will it make possible to update the PMP with new video formats support or something ?Tue, 15 Nov 2005 10:10:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (forum)CommentsRE: Linux / Updateshttp://www.osnews.com/thread?60371
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60371No. Especially because the source code doesn't seem easy to find.Tue, 15 Nov 2005 17:16:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia)CommentsRE[2]: Linux / Updateshttp://www.osnews.com/thread?60426
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60426qualify that with, "at this writing", or, "today", and it might be valid.Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:20:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Sphinx)CommentsRE: Linux / Updateshttp://www.osnews.com/thread?60432
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60432Give it time you'll probably see a replacement os project as soon as a few are disassembled, the hardware looks much too nice not to, probably only a cross compile and a few driver changes away.Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:30:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Sphinx)CommentsRE[3]: Linux / Updateshttp://www.osnews.com/thread?60433
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60433Well, I asked for the source code and Pontis does not have it. They just used whatever iUbi gave them as binaries. And the iUbi/Pontis devices are out for more than a year. If iUbi wanted to post their changes/source-code they would have done so, don't you think?Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:31:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia)CommentsRE[2]: Linux / Updateshttp://www.osnews.com/thread?60434
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60434The full hardware specs are not available. You can't port anything to it in the current form. The only solution is for iUbi to post the source code so people can start updating it.Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:32:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia)CommentsRE[3]: Linux / Updateshttp://www.osnews.com/thread?60506
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60506Got Skills? It's only a computer, hardware is hardware, as long as it's not proprietary and even then it can be deduced, really helps if they haven't ground off the part numbers but even then there are plenty of catalogs with pictures. After all we're talking rocket science not brain surgery, all you need is tools, time and two units...Tue, 15 Nov 2005 23:00:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Sphinx)CommentsVideo Recording Specs?http://www.osnews.com/thread?60540
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60540Hello Eugenia,

I had 2 questions. First, you attached a QVGA (320X240) clip of the Wizard of Oz - but can the recorder support better resolutions? Can it record in VGA (640X480)?

Also, you said the picture viewing was pleasing. Did it take a long time to load large pictures individually? Were large pictures made blurry due to the screens low resolution - or were they "cropped for viewing"? My Iaudio X5L has this problem.

Thanks in advance.Wed, 16 Nov 2005 00:55:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (PolloLoco)CommentsRE: Video Recording Specs?http://www.osnews.com/thread?60548
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60548No, only QVGA recording is supported, which is what you want for PDAs and for future phones. If you need bigger resolutions you need to get an Archos device instead (the Neuros 442 that I reviewed last week also does HVGA 640x240, but this res is not supported well by most media players and it makes the video look stretched). So, if you truly need big resolutions, either get a Neuros Recorder II (comes out in a few weeks, $150) or an Archos device ($350+).

Pictures are scaled down to fit on the QVGA resolution and they don't look blury. There is a 4x zoom available too. They load pretty fast.Wed, 16 Nov 2005 01:46:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia)CommentsThanks!http://www.osnews.com/thread?60551
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60551I appreciate the info - your 2 reviews have given me a lot to think about. The detail was great - I was considering those 2 players along with the MSI megaview and a couple others (MacVision MC3007).Wed, 16 Nov 2005 02:06:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (PolloLoco)CommentsHard drive upgrade MX2020http://www.osnews.com/thread?60779
http://www.osnews.com/thread?60779My MX2020 is on order and should be arriving any day. I'm hoping I can upgrade the HD to 40gig...I have a spare 40GB 9.5mm HD available. I plan to use PowerQuest DriveImage 2002 and see what happens. Has anyone else looked at upgrading the HD in the MX2020? Thanks.....(20GB is good but 40GB is better!)Wed, 16 Nov 2005 13:10:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (guilani)CommentsRE: Hard drive upgrade MX2020http://www.osnews.com/thread?61043
http://www.osnews.com/thread?61043no, no one tried that. I suggest you don't destroy the warranty of your order.Wed, 16 Nov 2005 21:24:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia)CommentsScheduled recording?http://www.osnews.com/thread?61176
http://www.osnews.com/thread?61176Can user program recording time (e.g. daily, weekly) or it only allows manual?Thu, 17 Nov 2005 00:45:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (arpa)CommentsRE: Scheduled recording?http://www.osnews.com/thread?61281
http://www.osnews.com/thread?61281Manual.Thu, 17 Nov 2005 07:08:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia)CommentsiUbi firmwarehttp://www.osnews.com/thread?61718
http://www.osnews.com/thread?61718If you do try to upgrade the harddrive. See if you can load the iUbi firmware on it. It looks like the interface is still all in english, even though the manufacturer is Korean. Perhaps it will enable the Wifi Fri, 18 Nov 2005 05:49:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous)CommentsRE: Hard drive upgrade MX2020http://www.osnews.com/thread?61932
http://www.osnews.com/thread?61932If you do decide to destroy the warranty and do something like this. The IUBI site has a download for the complete CD that comes with the PMP2020. It includes a system resore utility that will format and reinstall everything from scratch. If you do it.. let us know how it works!Fri, 18 Nov 2005 18:37:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous)CommentsiUbi firmwarehttp://www.osnews.com/thread?62492
http://www.osnews.com/thread?62492Well, I tried the latest firmware and other than changing logos and whatnot, it appears to be the same as the 1.01 pontis firmware...and no, the wifi and other icon are not working...also the wifi icon now looks like iubi entertainment...I wonder what their plans were for this...unfortunately I don't have a wireless compact flash cardSun, 20 Nov 2005 06:04:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous)CommentsRE: iUbi firmwarehttp://www.osnews.com/thread?62495
http://www.osnews.com/thread?62495sorry, iubi channel, not entertainment...Sun, 20 Nov 2005 06:05:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous)CommentsiUbi Firmwarehttp://www.osnews.com/thread?63152
http://www.osnews.com/thread?63152One benefit of this firmware might be some more improvements, it looks like on the iUbi site they have done quite a bit more firmware releases than the one that Pontis did.

Did the harddrive upgrade work? Or was that someone elseMon, 21 Nov 2005 19:01:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous)CommentsRE: iUbi Firmwarehttp://www.osnews.com/thread?63561
http://www.osnews.com/thread?63561(this is from the original post-er of HD upgrade...)

No...I haven't tried it yet. These devices take the 1.8" hard drive, not the standard notbook drive of 9.5mm height. Higher capacity brand new 1.8" drives from Toshiba are in the range $100-160. I'll start looking for one on ebay...

TTFNTue, 22 Nov 2005 20:04:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (guilani)CommentsiUbi Firmwarehttp://www.osnews.com/thread?64050
http://www.osnews.com/thread?64050I tried the iUbi Firmware and they didn't seem to do much...the latest iUbi one seemed to bring it up to on par with the pre-loaded pontis firmwareThu, 24 Nov 2005 00:46:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous)CommentsFor Anonymous (IP: 69.209.197.---) http://www.osnews.com/thread?64060
http://www.osnews.com/thread?64060Anonymous, please email me, I would like to discuss about the new firmware you tried. Thanks!Thu, 24 Nov 2005 01:10:00 GMTdonotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia)Commentshey everyonehttp://www.osnews.com/thread?64151
http://www.osnews.com/thread?64151i am a newbie to pmp. I am having trouble playing some of the avi files on the mx2020. how can you tell rather the avi files was encoded to be compatiable with the pontis?